There’s something greatly admirable about a band willing to give music away for free. It’s always boggled my mind when an unsigned, independent and virtually unheard artist feels compelled to charge fifteen dollars just for a download their album, when there's so much other great material out there. Of course, I would love to be as supportive as possible, but as an independent musician myself, I don’t really have that kind of cash to throw around everywhere. Thankfully, False-Heads, based out of London, seem to have the same mindset as me—creation as something that’s shared, not commoditized—and by offering their EP, “Tunnel Vision”, up for free download, I happened to find one of my new favorite unsigned bands without going hungry for another night.

False-Heads have a fairly familiar but still somehow surprising sound. Taking nods from classic punkers like The Clash’s early material, while equally incorporating other conventions from 90s grunge (think an angrier Nirvana), False-Minds float somewhere in between garage rock and melodic punk. The lightheartedly named bassist, Mop Head, serves as the backbone for the band, always grounding the tracks during the most important of transitional moments. In the garagey opener, “Fall Around”, Mop Head puts forth a great walking bassline during the verses and keeps the song glued together right before the bridge, bracing the audience for an upcoming great guitar solo.

The guitar tones waver from twangy fuzz to memorable, flange-driven leads. In “Remedy”, the solo has an almost arena rock kind of vibe to it—a very fun inclusion to the EP’s back end, and the production finds a way to shine on the aggressive “Without a Doubt”, where the solo has a very removed effect layered on top of it, as if it is being played from very far away. Production additionally comes to stick out (for the better) on closer, “Comfort Consumption”, with its layers of melodic strings, which, oddly enough, blend very well with the band’s eclectic style.

Singer Luke Griffiths also sports a very diverse delivery, which can range from subdued, dreamy crooning to a louder and more confident vocal onslaught. His lyrics provide some of the strongest moments from False-Heads on their entire EP. With cynical, matter-of-fact lines like “If I could bleed holy water / I promise I would / And then I’d sell it honest” and “Take a seat and enjoy the show / You can watch me waiting in death row”, the “Tunnel Vision” EP instantly gains a ton of replay value as you become more and more invested in Griffiths’ writing.

At only five tracks, most clocking in at under 3 minutes, “Tunnel Vision” is a fairly brief affair, only giving you a taste of what False-Heads has to offer, but rest assured: it’s a very good taste. Since it’s up for free download on Bandcamp, you have no excuse for not checking out this great unsigned band, currently blooming in the crowded streets of London. Chances are, you'll be scraping the bottom of your pockets soon, looking for anything to support this promising new act and help them garner the attention they truly deserve.